The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1887-07-30
EXHAUSTION OF PETROLEUM
What Scientific Men Have 10 Say on Ghs
Subject-UnmistaIIRb Signs. Y

1t can hardly be doubted, l fear, that th
supply both of oil and gas has now been sd
largely drawn upon that within less than
score of years scarcely any will be left
which can be brought at reasonable cost \
into the market The boundaries and
extent of the oil regions have been deter
mined. All the sands in which oil will
ever be found in such quantities as to be
worth working are known, and have been
drilled through in various places. 1t is
scarcely possible that any new fields will be
discovered which will be comparable either
in extent or productiyeness with those now
known. So far back as January, 1885,,
Professor Lesley pointed out that no petro-
leum is now being produced in the Deven-
ian rocks, either by the process akin to
distilation or otherwise What has been
stored up in the past, a process which
probably lasted for millions of years, may
be got out. But when these reservoirs are
exhausted there will be an end Of the pc
troleum supply. "The discovery of few
more pools of two or three millions of bar
rels each can make little difference" !" Mr.
CARL, whose opinion on the geology of tn
oiLbearing districts may be regarded as de
cisive, has come to similar conclusion
''There are not at present" he pointed on
quite recently, "any reasonable grounds |? =
expecting the discovery of new fields which
will add to the declining products Of the
old, so as to enable the output to keep pace
with the shipments or consumption"
The stored petroleum in this region has
then been very nearly exhausted. In less
than generation a small part of the popu-
lation of this continent alone has used up
nearly all the valuable stores of energy
which had been accumulated during mil
ions of years of the geologic past
More recent inquiries confirm the con
clusions of Professor Lesley and Mr.. Carll.
The signs of exhaustion in the oil produc-
ing regions can now be clearly recognized.
During the last four years there has been
a steady diminution in the output, accom-.
panied by an increase in the price per bar
rel, which nevertheless does not even main
tain the nominal annual value of the supply
Mr.. Wrigley announced in 1882 tiia
154, 100000 barrels of oil had already beer
raised up to the beginning of that year.
and expressed the opinion that not more
than 96,000,000 barrels remained to be
raised. In this last estimate he was un-
doubtedly mistaken, for up to the beginn7
ing of 1885 no fewer than 261 100000
barrels had been raised, and in the yeaiV
1885 as many as 81 ,O42, ,O41 barrels (nearly |
10000 fewer than 18S4) were obtained.
But although the estimate in 1882 of the
quantity of oil still remaining fell far short
of the truth, and though we may admit as
possible that even now much more oil re-
mains to be put out than the most expert
enced geologists suppose, the signs of ap.- !
preaching exhaustion are yearly becomin;
more unmistakable.
The expense of bringing the oil to tn
surface grows greater year by year, and
threatens soon to become so great that the
profit of working the oil stores will be
evanescent. So soon as that state of things
is approached, we may be sure that the oil
mems occupation in Pennsylvania and
western New York will be gone. 1t has
been stated that the japanese, unwilling to
let the least fraction of the earths interior
stores be lost, have been known to exca-
vate a vertical shaft to depth 600 feet, in.
order to raise a few gallons of oil per day
But in America, when the oil mines are
near exhaustion as this, they will be abai
doned long before they approach such
condition. With the failure of the oil
supply, all the collateral branches Of indus
try associated with it will fall too.-KnolcL
etZ1e.